Earlier times

Castles remind of past times. The history of Bloemendal starts with the Aachen Cloth manufacturer Arnold von Clermont. As a purveyor to the Russian Tsar, Von Clermont put it very far in his business and decided to realize his life's dream at the age of 63.

Opposite its new weaving mill, in 1791, the first stone is laid of a royal residence, which will bear the name "Schloss Blumenthal" and according to his own description "Im Lugenthal". But after only a few months of well-deserved rest in the not yet fully completed building, he died on 5 December 1795.

After the death of his father, son Adam had to complete the not yet completed Blumenthal building. Among others due to the weak economy at the time of the French revolution, the "house" comes in different hands and in 1846 it is sold to the Aachen Stadtrat Joh. Wilh. van Lommessen. This donates the building to the ladies' order Sacra Coeur, where his two daughters Anna and Caroline have now entered.

Bloemendal built up great fame within the Catholic boarding schools in Europe and even beyond. Rose Kennedy has even attended boarding school here. During the occupation 1940-1944 the building was claimed by the occupying forces and turned into a lazaret with a capacity of 350 beds. From 1947, the boarding school, now under the Dutch name Klooster Bloemendal, runs at full speed until the beginning of 1970; then both the number of pupils and the monastic orders start to decline. In 1976, almost 130 years of monastic life came to an end; the sisters leave the monastery and in 1978 the municipality of Vaals becomes the owner.

In November 1990, the municipality of Vaals and van der Valk, in collaboration with the province of Limburg and the Netherlands Conservation Agency, agreed to restore the complex that had been vacant for some time and to be extended to a luxury hotel. Thanks to this very successful collaboration, the old Schloss Blumenthal has been restored and a culturally and historically valuable building has been preserved in an appropriate way.